“Pushing the ‘white privilege’ theory creates victimization,” O’Reilly said. “It gives people an excuse to fail or to do bad things. What happened in the past is important to understand, but creating current policy around it is foolish.”

O’Reilly made the same argument on Stewart’s show, saying that systemic prejudice against the Black community was a thing of the past.

“Maybe you haven’t figured out that there is no more slavery, no more Jim Crow,” O’Reilly said at the time. “The most powerful man in the world is a Black American, and the most powerful woman in the world, Oprah Winfrey, is Black.”

While O’Reilly showed a clip from the discussion, he did not air the moment where he acknowledged to Stewart that the social phenomenon is “a factor” in peoples’ everyday lives. He did, though, say that neither he nor the Daily Show host came away with any rancor.

“Stewart and I always have lively debates, and there are no hard feelings,” O’Reilly said. “That’s the way it should be: if you disagree with someone, hold your ground, but don’t get angry.”

About the Author

Arturo R. García is the managing editor at Racialicious.com. He is based in San Diego, California and has written for both print and broadcast media, including contributions to GlobalComment.com, The Root and Comment Is Free. Follow him on Twitter at @ABoyNamedArt